After struggling to find a suitable platform for this story, I’ve settled on a blog post. Hopefully, a blog allows me to further open the door between myself & my audience. Welcome!

This story is a collaboration between fashion photographer Mélanie Rey and myself. Although we met in December of 2018, this project aligned perfectly with one of my goals for the New Year: collaborate. Reach out. Construct extensions of myself through others’ mediums. I am in a very fortunate position as a model to be consistently approached as a photographic muse & this grants me many opportunities to “see” myself literally through another lens. After seeing Melanie’s stunning body of work, I immediately agreed to meet up with the French photographer in a white brick studio in Long Island City.

We shot this all while exchanging small talk, basking in the abundant natural light of the late afternoon. My tendency is to add tedious detail & “complicate” a scene after rendering new, varied textures into the picture… but in this case, the minimalism of the environment called for a simple story. I had to respect Melanie’s attention to solemn, yet strong expressions that spoke for themselves. It was a quick shoot, but we managed a lot.

These photos come together into a collective portrait & I am honored to be shown in such an honest, yet flattering light. I only hope to collaborate with more young creatives in hopes of hoisting each other up… but thus far, it seems this year is off to a promising start.

Below are my selects from the story spread, including an unedited drawing & my favorite outtake.